Chapter 3 - The Traitor Within
The sun was barely cresting the jagged horizon of the Hamptons when Rory called an emergency meeting in the estate's subterranean bunker.
The heavy steel reinforced doors sealed shut with a pneumatic hiss. Standing around the polished mahogany war table were Rory’s three most trusted capos: Marco, a scarred veteran of the docks; Dante, the cold-blooded financial fixer; and Leo, head of personal security.
And sitting quietly near the end of the table, laptop in hand, was Veronica.
Murmurs rippled through the hard-faced men. Marco crossed his massive arms, scowling down at the young woman.
“Boss, with all due respect, what is the domestic staff doing in a tactical briefing?” Marco grunted, shifting his weight.
“She found what your security team missed for two months, Marco,” Rory snapped, his voice cutting through the room like a switchblade. He tossed the torn teddy bear onto the center of the table. The micro-bug lay exposed in the white fluff.
Silence fell over the room like a falling anvil.
“Susan,” Dante breathed, his eyes narrowing. “She’s the only one outside this house who had direct access to the nursery without triggering the perimeter sweeps.”
“Susan didn't build this tech,” Rory replied coldly. “She’s a pawn. The Moretti family is using her to undermine me from the inside, slowly driving my children insane to break my focus before the dock arbitration next month.”
“If the Morettis are playing psychological games with your blood, Boss, we burn their shipping hubs to the ground by noon,” Leo said, his hand resting on his sidearm.
“No,” Veronica spoke up, her voice clear and steady in the tense room. All eyes snapped to her. She didn't flinch. She opened the laptop and projected a data stream onto the smart wall. “If you strike now, they win. The bug isn't just transmitting sound; it’s a two-way channel. It has a receiver that logs when the target reacts.”
Rory leaned over the table, studying the data. “Explain.”
“Look at the transmission logs,” Veronica tapped the screen, highlighting a pulsing green node. “The signal didn't just broadcast to a remote server in the city. It pinged a local relay station less than three miles from this estate. Someone is sitting nearby every single night at 3:00 a.m., listening to your daughters scream, and recording your reactions.”
Rory’s face went completely blank. The stillness in his demeanor was far more terrifying than any outburst of rage.
“A local relay,” Rory whispered. He looked up at Leo. “Sweep every property within a three-mile radius of this estate. Commercial buildings, vacation homes, abandoned warehouses. Find out who rented or purchased a signal booster in the last sixty days.”
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“On it, Boss,” Leo nodded sharply, turning toward the door.
“And Veronica,” Rory added, his stormy eyes locking onto hers as the capos filed out. “You stay close to the girls. From now on, you don't clean rooms. You are their primary guardian when I’m not in the nursery.”
